Boxing hero Freddie Mills 'murdered eight women'

For 20 years Freddie Mills was one of the best-loved figures in British sport. Crowned light-heavyweight champion of the world in 1948, he was a colourful fighter who seemed impervious to pain. What Mills lacked in skill, he more than made up for with aggression and courage. Even after hanging up his gloves to become a club owner and promoter, he remained a darling of the media and a hero to millions.

But, according to a new book to be published next year, Mills took terrible secrets to his grave. It claims he was a vicious serial killer, responsible for the brutal deaths of at least eight young women whose naked bodies were found in or around the River Thames between 1959 and 1965.

All of the victims were working as prostitutes and died when their killer, dubbed Jack the Stripper, strangled or choked them during sex. The killer has never been identified and the case remains unsolved.

In July 1965, a few months after the last body was discovered, Mills was found slumped in the back of his car in a Soho alleyway. He had been shot in the head and a small calibre rifle was resting between his knees. His family and many of his closest friends - who included numerous celebrities and major criminals, including the Kray twins - were convinced he had been murdered, but police ruled his death a suicide.

Dozens of theories sprang up to explain what had happened. One was that Mills, married with children, was secretly bisexual, had been arrested in a public lavatory frequented by homosexuals and was facing court on an indecency charge.

Another version claims that he had been unable to cope following the suicide of his close friend Michael Holliday, a popular cabaret singer. In this version of events Mills was rumoured to have had an affair with Holliday, who was also connected to Ronnie Kray. Yet another version has his suicide staged by Chinese gangsters who wanted to take over his Soho nightclub.

Shortly before he died, Ronnie Kray quashed any rumours concerning Mills's sexuality, according to his then wife, Kate Kray. 'Ronnie and Freddie were very good friends. So much so that a lot of people believed they were lovers. I asked Ron about that before he died and he told me that there wasn't a shred of truth. He said that Freddie was a real man's man and that he wasn't that way inclined.'

Reformed south London gangster Jimmy Tippet - whose father, Jimmy Snr, was a leading contender for the British lightweight championship and fought on numerous bills promoted by Mills - interviewed three generations of criminals and boxers for his forthcoming book about organised crime in London and believes he has uncovered the truth about the former champion.

Tippet's research has revealed that in the days before his death Mills had asked several prominent figures in London's gangland whether they could provide him with a pistol. 'They were left with the impression that there was someone he wanted to sort out or execute,' says Tippet. 'They offered to sort things out on his behalf, but Mills was insistent that he needed the weapon himself.'

Unable to secure a proper gun, he went to see a friend, Mary Ronaldson, who ran a rifle range at Battersea fun fair. He asked if he could borrow a weapon, telling her he had been invited to a charity fete and wanted to dress up as a cowboy. It was that gun that was found in his car.

'In those days the members of the boxing fraternity were like a Masonic circle,' says Tippet. 'A lot of people who were close to him, including my father, are still unwilling to talk about exactly what was said during those times and those who are won't say anything on the record. But I have been told that Freddie feared the police were closing in on him for the murders and decided to take his own life rather than face trial. He had apparently been suffering from dizzy spells and bouts of depression for some time.'

The police investigation into the death of Mills was headed by Leonard 'Nipper' Read, the detective who would later bring the Kray twins to justice. While convinced that Mills committed suicide, Read does not believe he was responsible for the murders. He claims that confusion arose because the chief suspect was revealed to be a married man and former boxer in his forties who committed suicide in mid-1965. The man has never been named.

Tippet has investigated these claims but found little to link the chief suspect - a security guard on an estate close to where the last body was found - to the other murders.

'There were other suspects. There are people who know the truth and when the police finally open up the files to the public, the full story will come out.'